Mad Diet

04/09/2026

BLACK BILE… a reminder to the Scots we are more than hill and glen.

There’s so much fake stuff on here it’s starting to stick in my craw. Last week I got tagged in umpteen posts by loyal followers and dutifully logged on to bolster the cause of nutritional psychiatry.

But it didn’t take me long to suss out the posts had been written by ChatGPT – not the self-proclaimed expert posting it. Intellectually lazy at best – or total pish as we say in Glasgow!

I’m one of the few remaining dinosaurs who still sits in my kitchen, airport lounge, or hotel room taking time to share insights organically. These AI programmes may be useful tools if you want to imitate others but are pretty sh*te at originality!

That’s the thing about artificial intelligence – the clue is in its definition. Brilliant at spouting out clever stuff but with zero wisdom. The predictive prose and banal writing style is a dead giveaway. A nightmare for authors with PhD’s or researchers with decades of doing the dog work.

Anyone can be an expert on here with the right software. Plus, Zuckerbot’s algorithm promotes the fake stuff instead of thought-provoking original content. Educated humans are on a hiding to nothing in this spiritually-devoid digital world.

Anyway, this week I’m sitting in a hotel room on the island of Kos – home to the father of medicine. I’m meeting a historian at the Hippocratic Foundation to trace the footsteps of the MacBeths.

These medical kindred known as the Beatons were instrumental in Scotland becoming a global powerhouse of modern medicine. When the Royal Society of Medicine was established almost all of its back catalogue of treatments and procedures came from Clann Meic-bethad… but they don’t like to admit it.

How could primitive Highlanders know more about medicine than us? Let’s just take their insights and pass them off as ours.

Those insights didn’t come from Highland healers – they came from those long before them. Although the MacBeth’s were intuitive (spiritual) healers, they were also well versed in medical knowledge gathered over millennia.

This knowledge of plant medicine travelled from Egypt to Greece and over to Ireland and eventually Scotland. The MacBeths translated the texts of Hippocrates from Greek to Gaelic and did the same with Galen too.

They also visited Persia to understand the work of Avicenna and translated Persian texts into Gaelic before other European scholars.

These so-called backwater Highlanders were no numpties. They were scholars, mystics, and physicians all rolled into one - called upon by wealthy people all across Europe to heal them in times of need.

Robert the Bruce – or de Brus as he was French – relied heavily on the MacBeths. Legend has it that mental breakdown he had in the cave – remember the spider try, try again story we all learned in school?

Aye, it was probably bollox. Apparently, he had a bad case of the black bile and Patrick MacBeth along with French astrologer and physician, Maino de Maineri prescribed specific foods to sort him out.

As a side note, I’ve always been interested in the medical history between Scotland and France. Since David I introduced feudalism to our land in 1124 we have become a proxy nation. He was raised in an English court and hell-bent on handing hereditary land in Scotland to his French henchmen.

The de Brus and de Balliols were among them. French muscle seizing Scottish land in a medieval version of a Guy Ritchie gangster movie.

Moving on… before the nationalists get their knickers in a twist (and remembering I voted YES in 2014) not that will earn me any brownie points with those still entrenched in ineffectual ideologies.

Black bile literally means melancholy. Melas (black) and chole (bile) in Greek. Our ancestors were just as depressed as we were but they didn’t take SSRIs to ease the pain!

They resorted to community prescriptions, plants, food, and spiritual healing. They ate certain foods and prayed to gods we no longer believe in.

Now, I don’t know who or what god is. I’ve spent a lifetime looking. After being kicked out of bible class for asking all the right questions I’ve travelled from India to Peru, Turkey to Tibet – and am still none the wiser.

We are all winging it down here and just need to suck it up… whilst giving a helping hand to those who can’t.

Fast approaching 60, I want to spend the rest of my time looking at stuff that may actually matter. How the Scots healed themselves before multinational corporations came to town. How our grannies handled preventative medicine… and didn’t rely on anyone else.

We’ve been r***d and ravaged for a thousand years by quislings and foreign powers in proxy wars. Now is the time to reclaim our heritage to medicine, science, and herbalism.

Tomorrow I will learn more about how the Scots improvised with herbs and oils - using intuition to translate Hippocrates’s remedies. Hazelnut oil instead of olive oil and willow bark instead of meadowsweet – the plants that gave us aspirin.

I could go on about how the French chemist Charles Frédéric Gerhard first discovered the painkiller - married to a Scots lassie whose father (President of the Royal Society in Edinburgh) bankrolled his research… but I won’t.

Enough about the Scots being totally brilliant… we’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns.

Suzanne.x

31/08/2026

It’s bad enough with the Cilla Black wannabees punting cheap imported supplements in their kitchens.

Now brands are bypassing humans altogether and loads of us can’t tell the difference!

So, when you see these brands with gazillions of reviews – remember most online reviews are fake.

When you see people promoting – remember they are paid to do it… that’s if they’re even real!

Is it time we got back to proper word of mouth – asking friends, colleagues, and family members for trusted testimonials in the real world?

This digital realm has a dark side and sometimes it’s hard to see through it.

The New York Times found hundreds of A.I.-generated doctors, healers and wellness influencers on social media touting the health benefits of supplements to American consumers. Many of these hyperrealistic looking ads promise medical miracles, and appear to be targeting older women, while making misl...

28/08/2026

There are rumours doing the rounds that ashwagandha could be next in the firing line in the UK. Those rumours aren't coming from nowhere.

Denmark has already banned ashwagandha in food supplements and France has placed restrictions around its use. Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has also advised caution and UK agencies are now looking at it too.

Thanks to tin-pot companies punting cheap ingredients and mega-dose formulas, regulators are stepping in. Good products are getting caught in the same net as bad ones and we’re throwing the baby out with the bath water!

Ashwagandha has been used safely and effectively in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. But Ayurveda isn't about swallowing the highest dose you can squeeze into a capsule - it’s about balance, harmony, and gentle healing.

That's very different from orthomolecular medicine, where substantially higher doses of individual vitamins may be used for optimal results.

Traditionally, ashwagandha root was taken internally and the leaf was used topically. Our grannies made sugar and soap poultices too but they didn’t eat the bloody things! Now thanks to daft lassies talking tripe on TikTok, demand has skyrocketed and we’ve entered loaves and fishes territory.

There is only so much quality ashwagandha root to go around and cheaper leaf finds its way into the supply chain. Also, more ashwagandha is being processed in China, fuelling a growing market for inexpensive commodity extracts.

Provenance and traceability become increasingly murky and people often have no idea what they’re actually buying. A glowing endorsement from a celebrity influencer doesn’t make a murky supply chain any clearer!

Ashwagandha leaf isn’t just cheaper than the root - it has a very different chemical profile. It contains much higher levels of withaferin A and that’s why governments are getting antsy.

Withaferin A is a highly active steroidal lactone and can be bad news for the liver. If taken in high doses it has potent cytotoxic effects – and that’s why the amount in ashwagandha formulas really matters.

Mix cheaper leaf material into a root product and you not only alter the withanolide profile. You reduce the cost which is great for margins - but not great for the person swallowing it!

India has now drawn a line in the sand. In April 2026, its food regulator announced that ashwagandha leaves and leaf extracts are not permitted in foods and food supplements – only the root and its extracts are allowed.

Yet China continues to process and export ashwagandha ingredients, including inputs from both root and leaf. Money-oriented companies then buy it in spades and it ultimately ends up on our shelves.

This is why we have always used organic KSM-66 ashwagandha in our formulas. Sourced only from the root, meticulously standardised to a consistent 5% withanolides, with negligible withaferin A in every batch.

It costs us considerably more and occasionally we struggle to get it – especially during this ongoing debacle in Hormuz. When that happens, we don't substitute it with a cheap commodity extract from China. We might lose sales but at least we can sleep at night!

So, if you buy ashwagandha – from us or anyone else – start asking questions:

Where was the ashwagandha grown?
Where was it extracted and processed?
Is it root only or does it contain leaf?
What percentage of withanolides does it contain?
What is the withaferin A content?
Is that tested on every batch?
Can the company provide a specification or Certificate of Analysis?
And if their normal extract isn't available, what do they substitute?

If the company can't answer those questions, I'd want to know why!

As for talk about a UK ban nothing has been finalised yet. But with Denmark restricting it, France taking action, Germany raising safety concerns and big pharma lobbyists exerting their muscle, I wouldn't dismiss the rumours.

There may also be more worrying news coming in the post…

The European Commission is at it again with maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements. This could affect the dose and availability of everyday staples like vitamin D, vitamin C and magnesium.

Following the UK's agreement to align parts of food regulation with the EU, what happens in Brussels could affect us too!

I'm waiting for further information from old colleagues at the EC and will write to everyone with the inside take soon. We blocked vitamin bans in 2005 and we can do it again this time too.

So, whether its ashwagandha, vitamin D or magnesium, the answer to bad supplements isn't banning good ones.

It's about better standards, better sourcing, better testing… and better education so consumers can separate the wheat from the chaff.

Most importantly, it’s about provenance, traceability and companies knowing exactly what they’re putting in every capsule.

Because when disreputable brands cut corners to make a killing, we all pay the price.

And that’s why healing herbs and vitamins, used properly for generations, end up in the firing line.

Suzanne.x

25/08/2026

These AI data centres are bigger than 100 football pitches and stand 35 metres tall.

Swallowing farmland, using vast amounts of water, and guzzling leccy that could power over 1 million homes.

Men in suits are pointing the tech giants north because of our abundant natural resources.

They’ve squandered our oil, parked monstrosities in our lochs, and now want to ravage our landscape with big brother buildings.

Is it time more of us said no?

Holyrood ‘inching towards moratorium’ amid concerns over massive proposed developments in Auchtertool and beyond

21/08/2026

We are heading in the right direction! Hats off to all the farmers transforming our food and land for the better.

Now, let's give them our full support by buying local organic meat, dairy, and crops. www.maddiet.co

Scotland’s organic farmland has jumped 28% in a year to 168,200 hectares, putting the country closer to its target of doubling area under organic management.

19/08/2026

Women of childbearing age in the UK do not consume enough iodine. Couple that with fluoride in drinking water and it’s a double-whammy for child development.

Iodine helps build thyroid hormones - controlling brain growth and nerve development during pregnancy and early childhood.

But fluoride depletes our iodine levels – halogen displacement – chemistry 101.

Milk, fish, and seaweed are natural sources of iodine but these foods have fallen off our plates. Plus, millions of people drink fluoridated tap water and most don’t use a filter.

This latest study is essential reading for young lassies planning a family. Keeping trace minerals in balance is vital during pregnancy – for mum’s thyroid and baby’s brain. www.maddiet.co

Pregnant mothers who lived in neighborhoods where public drinking water fluoride levels were near or above the current U.S. recommended levels tended to have children who scored lower on tests of fluid reasoning as fluoride levels increased, according to a new study supported by the National Institu...

11/08/2026

CLIMATE WHAT? (not had a drunken rant for a while)

The French are growing bananas. English vineyards are cooking with gas. But all we see is doom and gloom on the telly and red alerts from the weather man.

Back in the year 367 CE our ancestors went a bit mental too. The Picts, Scotti, and Saxons waged war on the Romans – all thanks to rising temperatures.

Taps aff summers during the Roman Warm Period wreaked havoc on crops and food supplies. The Picts jumped Hadrian’s wall, the Irish (Scotti) landed on the West Coast, and the Saxons invaded from the south. The Barbarian invasion.

People from these isles stood up to the establishment because of bad management and corruption. Three consecutive years of drought led to food shortages for the masses whilst Rome continued to extract crops from Britain.

Today we’re being gaslit for eating beef and driving cars due to so-called anthropogenic global warming. Dairy and cattle farmers are for the high jump because private water companies can’t sort out their leaks.

Meanwhile the Arabs and Spanish churn out crops in scorchio conditions. Have we forgotten how their production was built on our ingenuity?

Two-thousand years ago the establishment was the Romans – today it’s multinational corporations. Companies with deep enough pockets to pay the spymasters for dirt on you, me, and the people we vote for.

Don’t get me wrong, for wee Jeanie up the high flats in Dagenham, this warm weather might be a bit uncomfortable. In an ideal world her local council would spend less money on funding fraudsters and invest in proper cooling and heating systems!

Dagenham will always hold a special place in my heart. Not just because my daddy worked in the car factory at Linwood, but because the women down there asked me to give a talk before my book was even published.

Up here in Glasgow we are delighted to see the sun – by gawd we need it. Folk in the south have no idea how dire our weather is most of the time.

As for those silly social media posts about piping water from Scotland – don’t fall for the ruse. Granted, we have plenty of wet stuff up here but it would be far cheaper sorting out supply closer to home.

I’m no fan of the Fabian mob but nationalising water makes sense. Sort out the leaks, give farmers leeway on canals, and build desalination plants if need be. Far cheaper than piping water from the Highlands!

Over at the finca, during periods of drought, farmers don’t have to pay anything for water from canals. Also, local desalination plants paid for by the government cost just €300 million to build – a fraction of the building cost by private companies in England!

We are slowly being primed for food shortages and water bans by roasters at the helm. Scaring the bejeezus out of those who haven’t been to Specsavers.

The truth is we are going through a period of climatic fluctuation – as evidenced by many cycles in the past. We can either sh*t our pants and listen to the hypnotist that might make our t**s bigger or retain some sense of reality.

That reality involves moving with the ebb and flow of the sun, the ensuing climatic cycles, and doing what we can to protect our communities.

Britain thrived during the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Warm Period – we can see that from the annals. But it takes careful management to counter unpredictable weather and I see little foresight from those at DEFRA.

Can you believe, since Mad Diet was published, we’ve had no less than 10 DEFRA Secretaries. That’s averaging at one a year! Only one had any farming experience and the rest were probably angling for their next job… because agriculture is not important.

Red or blue – they are all gunning for the Singapore model… import everything… nae money in food in their eyes… look it up!

Yet during times of global uncertainty farming should be our number one priority. Whether it be the big orange jobbie wreaking havoc in Hormuz, ongoing trade disputes, or the sun doing its thing… domestic production of meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and cereals is essential for national security.

We’re all so focused on Nigel and his boats or strange people turning up in our communities. I’ll be honest, Glasgow is already bursting at its seams with problems – we can’t handle any more.

But these polemic distractions do nothing to address the circular patterns of nature. Our media bombards us with dribble every morning and we spoon it up with our cornflakes.

If I had my way, Britain would get busy building and growing again. Not demonising fossil fuels but using them wisely and cashing in on the proceeds. Burying electricity cables to avert solar storms – the Canadians and Russian’s are doing it – why not us?

Most importantly, we must give our farmers access to water so they can irrigate fields.

If we don’t’ we’ll be at the behest of other nations to feed us… and going by the past… that never ends well.

Suzanne.x

04/08/2026

What if we used energy from those windmills to power greenhouses instead of data centres?

Reviving the Clyde Valley tomato industry with a local supply of fresh fruit.

When I close my eyes, I can still smell the scent of Ailsa Craig tomatoes in my granny’s kitchen. Grown just outside Glasgow and affordably priced at greengrocers across the country.

Tomatoes and olive oil are two core ingredients that make the Mediterranean diet so healthy.

With modern tech we don’t need the sun – we just need a cheap energy supply to grow affordable fruit for everyone in Scotland. www.maddiet.co

An exploratory randomized trial found that 200 g of raw tomatoes plus 50 g of tomato sauce daily for six weeks produced a greater reduction in CAP-defined hepatic steatosis than a tomato-free diet in adults with MASLD. The improvement occurred without major weight or metabolic changes, but larger an...

02/08/2026

Not far from our finca in Catalunya, native sheep and goats are being reintroduced to graze forests and hillsides.

They eat dry grasses and flammable plants that act as fuel for summer wildfires - nature's own fire prevention!

Meanwhile in Scotland, farm animals have been progressively removed from parts of the Cairngorms in the name of rewilding.

But for thousands of years, farmers and their livestock have shaped and stewarded this land - keeping vegetation in check long before firefighting aircraft existed.

When we remove the grazers, the fuel builds. When we remove the farmers – who stewards the land?

Is it time we got back to the auld ways – paying shepherds instead of deploying helicopters?

Suzanne.x

30/07/2026

SOMETHING FISHY

For centuries, fishermen have known one thing. When the oceans change, everything else changes too.

Over 400 years ago, Peruvian fishermen noticed the sea becoming unusually warm at Christmas. They called it El Niño de Navidad – the Christ Child. Those warmer waters sent sardines and anchovies elsewhere, devastating local catches.

Today, it's happening again.

This latest El Niño has hammered sardine and anchovy fisheries, pushing the cost of sustainably sourced fish oils up by around 80%. That's why our Half Price Omega-3 Fish Oils won't stay at this price for long!

Many brands have responded by dropping fish species from their labels altogether. Instead of stating exactly what's inside, they simply say "cold water fish" - allowing them to source cheaper fish from almost anywhere in the world.

Different species. Varying quality. Questionable sustainability. You literally don't know what you're swallowing!

We refuse to play that game.

Our omega-3 is now exclusively sourced from European sardines and anchovies and independently certified by Friends of the Sea.

As part of the World Sustainability Organisation this helps guarantee sustainable fish stocks, seabed protection, and complete traceability from catch to capsule.

Interestingly, the first reports of El Niño came during the early 1600s - a period of remarkable weather across the UK.

Southern England experienced extraordinary summers, with reports of "not a drop of rain" between March and August while Scotland endured violent storms.

Around the same time, Galileo named the Aurora Borealis as the mirrie dancers lit up skies across Europe. Four hundred years later, the northern lights make headlines in America now seen as far south as Texas!

Scientists know the sun follows an 11-year sunspot cycle but it goes through grand solar cycles too. These cycles can last about 400 years and we've had around 25 in the past 10,000 years.

Warming periods and cooling phases like the Oort, Wolf, Spörer, and famous Maunder Minimum.

In 1645, sunspot activity collapsed, marking the beginning of the Maunder Minimum. Researchers continue to join the dots on how solar activity influences our climate, El Niño, ocean systems, and the UK’s big protector - the Gulf Stream.

Having studied farmers’ journals and auld parish records at the National Archives I have a clearer understanding of what happened to the Scots in the 17th century.

How striking auroral displays, unpredictable weather, and then a grand solar minimum shaped the people and agriculture of this land.

Just like our ancestors, we must adapt to the ebb and flow of that great orb in the sky - and to the changing conditions it creates for farming and fishing.

Thank you for supporting our wee Scottish brand that refuses to compromise on quality, traceability, or sustainability.

More importantly, thank you for supporting the hard-working fishermen doing things properly.

Suzanne.x